Next Week We Will Have a Supermoon and a Meteor Shower on the Same Night https://t.co/kk3BRqlC5J pic.twitter.com/Hl3N0QlNQn
— Popular Mechanics (@PopMech) December 10, 2016
… The Geminids are the last meteor shower of 2016, and you should be able to catch them between December 12 and December 15. The peak of the shower will be late at night on December 13 and early in the morning of December 14.
You’ll see the most meteors at around 2 a.m. local time, when the meteors radiate from directly overhead. The supermoon will also be visible, and even though the bright moon will make it harder to see the meteors, the Geminids are large enough that you should still be able to catch the brightest shooting stars.
Anybody going to be out there watching for meteors tonight?
(Our attempt this summer to see the Leonids shower was a major #FAIL, which ended with us & three wired little dogs stuck in a six-hour pre-dawn traffic tie-up, so I’m not even gonna mention this to the Spousal Unit… )
Speaking of immense fusterclucks, here’s a small piece of good news from The Resistance:
Wow. Energy Department says it won’t provide individual names who worked on climate polices to Trump’s team https://t.co/UGtazl4mAN
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) December 13, 2016
.
Apart from scienterrific scienterrorism, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Yarrow
trollhattan
Heavy overcast here so will only see the moon’s well-cloaked glow. Here’s a neat thing–Tesla-Solar City have completely converted an island in American Samoa from diesel to solar power, even with multiple days battery backup.
Baud
@Yarrow: That’s a good one.
debbie
@Yarrow:
Jeez, they’re not even trying to be sneaky about it.
germy
Scientists are frantically copying U.S. climate data, fearing it might vanish under Trump
Jack
No joy. Clouds and Rain here in Piedmont NC.
danielx
Too damn cold to be outside tonight.
trollhattan
@germy:
Compare and contrast: at this point in the Bush2 administration they were busy deleting millions of emails. Gee, should they be hauled before a House select committee to account for those?
BillinGlendaleCA
Marine layer here in the basin.
jk
@Yarrow:
“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the scientific community?”
For the win!
Trump is an unprecedented prick and hopefully the Democrats can mitigate the damage this orange faced ratfucker can inflict over the next 4 years.
germy
@trollhattan: We’ll get Chaffetz right on it.
Yarrow
So how long before the wall is built? I mean the one Canada builds on its southern border. They’re going to be sharing a very long border with an unstable state run by a dictator. I’m sure they’ll want to protect themselves.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Too cloudy to see cool sky stuff here in San Francisco, as it has been for the last several meteor showers. Sigh.
ETA: On the plus side, we get our twice-yearly chance to drive our Priuses through flooding caused by king tides and get stuck. It’s a holiday tradition!
MomSense
@danielx:
INORITE. I’m frozen and sitting as close to the fire as possible without actually sitting in the fire.
And I think the merchants have caught on to my my bah humbug attitude about Christmas because I have about 1,100 unread emails and I don’t know how they got through my filters. Ugh. It’s like having another part time job just to sort through it all.
In happier news my middle kid is having the time of his life in Brooklyn. And he connected with a bunch of professional dancers who share an apartment in Harlem. From what I gather (from his brother) he is experiencing a personal kind of renaissance. Of course I wasn’t happy about the photo of him standing on a rooftop way too close to the edge. I hope the gods of youthful foolishness are smiling on him.
So aside from a quick peak at the super moon I’ll save my stargazing for summer when my eyeballs won’t freeze.
Oh and I’ll put in a quick plug for the tv show Startalk. Science rules!
debit
Have yourself a very Walter Christmas. In which Walter is a good sport, and Ellie is not.
Iowa Old Lady
Going from Moniz to Perry as Sec of Energy is like…going from Obama to Trump as president, so I guess that’s fitting.
MomSense
@debit:
Merry Christmas Walter, Ellie and you dear Debit. How are his treatments going? Hoping he is feeling much better.
JPL
@debit: Thank you so much for rescuing Walter, and the pics are great. They really made me smile.
raven
Iowa Old Lady
@debit: They are so cute!
BillinGlendaleCA
@debit: Ah, who’s a good doggie.
MomSense
@Iowa Old Lady:
Seriously he’s gone for a basket to a whole cabinet full of deplorables.
debit
@MomSense: He is doing really well. Still a little gimpy between shots, but he’s putting on muscle on his bad hind leg, so decided improvement in his mobility. His massage therapist sees progress every visit; not leaps and bounds but we’re happy with anything we can get. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Comrade Scrutinizer
The Internet Archive is doing the same thing—duplicating all its content in Canada. They’ve got a fund-raising gig going on now.
debit
@BillinGlendaleCA: He really is. I can do anything with him and he’s cool with it. Wear a silly Xmas hat? Sure! Whereas Ellie snorted and had hers off in less than a second.
MomSense
@debit:
Happy to hear he’s responding well. You and your pups are a definite bright spot in this otherwise dreadful year.
Yarrow
@debit: Adorable. Walter’s teeth just slay me. Such a good doggie!
Pogonip
@debit: And also to you and your dogs! How is Walter doing in the Minnesota snow?
JPL
@MomSense: That’s exactly how I felt.
Yarrow
@MomSense: Click through for the video of Tillerson getting his Order of Friendship medal from Putin.
Pogonip
I like that picture.
No Geminids this year. Cloudy tonight and dangerous, polar-vortex cold the next two. Frostbite cold. Darn it.
debit
@Pogonip: Now that he’s used to it he ignores it. I hoped for frolicking, but sadly no.
JPL
@debit: Smart dog!
MomSense
@Yarrow:
Gross. I saw on twitter yesterday someone posted a photo of der trump with advisors sitting around himand they called the Twitter eggs. Damn if they didn’t look like Twitter eggs.
Apparently a bunch of the white supremacists have apartments and spend time in Moscow. Who knew that all the Russians had to do to win the Cold War was embrace white supremacy? I’m so old I remember when the paranoia was that the Civil Rights Movement was a Communist plot.
Diana
@debit: thank you! Was wondering how Walter was faring
Steeplejack (tablet)
@debit:
Nice menagerie you’ve got there.
PsiFighter37
@Iowa Old Lady: It was a bit disconcerting to read an article about this, which mentioned that Steven Chu was a Nobel Laureate, Moniz is a nuclear physicist, and Perry…has a bachelors in animal science.
What the fuck is animal science? Is that some kind of made-up major for idiots in Texas?
Pogonip
@debit: aWell, old soldiers don’t frolic much.
Pogonip
@PsiFighter37: I think it has to do with agriculture?
Immanentize
@debit: I want to be Walter.
raven
@PsiFighter37:
Immanentize
@PsiFighter37: animal science is cattle fucking and insemination
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
Man, they’d better not any of them think of running for President.
Immanentize
@raven: beat me to it but with more college major lingo!
Fester Addams
@PsiFighter37:
Yes, sure, but now he’s got smart-boy glasses.
Это курам на смех
@PsiFighter37: no moron, it’s an applied science that is essential to modern agriculture.
SiubhanDuinne
@debit:
Look at that grin! Walter is the luckiest dog in the entire fucking world, and knows it!
raven
@Immanentize: wiki
Jeffro
@Iowa Old Lady: clearest illustration there is
Jeffro
@Yarrow: which has subsequently disappeared from his Wikipedia page
Yarrow
@Jeffro: It’s all over the internets. I hope some Dem in the confirmation hearings asks him about it.
Edit: I should say, if there are confirmation hearings. Are those required? Or merely convention?
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: @Yarrow: It’s so all over the internets it’s on his wikipedia page, actually.
Mothra
That is such wonderful news. Thank you for sharing it.
It’s been an exhausting month at work and the election and aftermath has drained me.
Seeing this act of resistance and courage has lifted me up.
Kathleen
Very cloudy tonight. The moon is right above me outside my office window and it fades in and out of the clouds. Sometimes it looks like it’s being sucked into a vortex, then it reappears. It looks like the moon is dancing.
joel hanes
@PsiFighter37:
What the fuck is animal science? Is that some kind of made-up major for idiots in Texas?
If your career orientation is to inherit the family farm and raise livestock or dairy or poultry, you go off to your agricultural state’s Great Landgrant Institution (Moo U.) and major in Animal Science. Basic biology and animal husbandry, and the economics of hedging and managing a corporate farm. I suppose people who are very into pets or want to work in a veterinarian’s office might find the degree useful, too.
Full disclosure : I spent five years at Moo U. to get my engineering degree. It was just fine.
Major Major Major Major
Lay off Animal Science, guys. There are plenty of sneer-worthy things out there without sneering at a perfectly legit major.
Yarrow
Apparently we’re up to 40 electors asking to be briefed on Russian involvement in the election. All Dems except the one Republican elector who already said he wasn’t voting for Trump.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Holy fuck. I just saw the clip of Chris Hayes asking St Bernard about his definition of “political correctness”: It means trade policy, and you can’t offend powerful people.
Original Lee
Too cloudy tonight to see anything fun in the sky. It’s supposed to precipitate (what kind will depend on the temperature at the moment), starting around 10 PM and lasting through to morning. I’m mildly bummed.
Yarrow
I don’t really follow entertainment stuff all that much. Does anyone know if Kanye West is getting some heat for meeting with Trump? I mean from his fans. Wondering how it might affect his career.
Baud
@Yarrow:
I’m hoping he goes all “Trump doesn’t care about black people” during the inauguration.
Gravenstone
@Yarrow: Yes, yes I am a member of the scientific community. And I am prepared to use my skills for the greater good.
Yarrow
@Baud: It he actually performing at the inauguration? Was the “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment before or after his mother died? Seems like he has not been the same since that happened.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: say what?
SiubhanDuinne
@Kathleen:
:-)
Very poetic.
(It is very overcast/hazy/misty in north Atlanta suburbs. At the moment it’s not quite raining, but looks as though it could start any minute now. I can see a slightly light area where I suppose the moon is lurking, but I don’t think she’s going to show her face tonight.)
Yarrow
So this is inspirational. Since the election over 4,500 women are deciding to run for office in 2018. There are some training programs out there to prepare women for public leadership roles. Click through the tweet below for a video.
rikyrah
We are heading into dark times. How to be your own light in the Age of Trump
Yarrow
@efgoldman: That’s what I thought. I doubt there will be confirmation hearings. Dictatorships don’t do things like that. Probably some distraction like a bomb going off in a major U.S. city to provide cover. Then “We must confirm Tillerson immediately!”
tobie
@Yarrow:
I couldn’t say. But I do remember Hillary getting lots of heat for appearing with JayZ two days before the election. IOKIYAR.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Major Major Major Major: I was looking for a transcript, but it doesn’t look like it’s been posted yet. Googling Chris Hayes Bernie Sanders Political Correctness gets a lot of this of right wing sites triumphantly bugling that Bernie Sanders admits Clinton lost because of political correctness, including the Blaze and something called LUcianne dot com, which if this were twenty years ago I’d guess was the beast that spawned Jonah Goldberg, but that can’t still be alive
rikyrah
@debit:
AWE….can’t believe that is the same dog. You are good people, debit. Thank you for giving Walter his forever home.
Mnemosyne
@debit:
Awww. Walter’s expression is so clearly, You want me to wear this hat, new mom? Anything for you!
bmoak
@Yarrow:
Yes, but they don’t count because they are all neoliberal Shillary supporters.
satby
@debit: tried to comment over at Flickr but don’t have an account, so putting it here: Sweet pic! Glad it’s all worked out so well, he clearly enjoys his life with you and Ellie.
Have a wonderful holiday season debit!
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: I always liked Leonard Cohen’s “the moon is swimming naked.”
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: then I’ll wait!
@Yarrow: One-party dictatorial “democracies” (ahem) are the sort of places one finds pro forma confirmation hearings…
bmoak
If there is one performer that would agree to perform at The Donald’s inauguration and then stop in the middle of his set to blast Trump, it would be Kanye.
Baud
@debit: so sweet.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I can see that being inoffensive. It seems like a question of tone and context.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Looking for good news, Trump has apparently appointed MT’s AL Congresscritter as Interior Secretary, which is probably bad news, but here’s a couple of possible silver linings
Botsplainer
@Yarrow:
Republican electors are voting for Trump.
Based on what I think Trump is going to accomplish by way of foreign recklessness in service of lining his own pockets, I’m anticipating that the death toll among American service members should be high enough that more than a few of them will want to blow their own brains out in the knowledge of what they did.
hovercraft
@germy:
Between this and the internets being backed up in Canada, in case the new administration continues it’s tradition of trying to disappear things from their website(s), our Northern friends hold the archives of how the world ended.
Yarrow
@bmoak: Wasn’t Kanye going to run for president in 2020? That would put him in direct competition with Trump if he did. Not that he’s going to, but there was some rambling thing at an awards show where he said that, I think.
satby
Last year the exchange daughters and I went out to watch the Geminids and Qunoot saw her very first shooting star! It’s pretty cold here, and there’s way too much light pollution where I live now, but I remember that thrill when we would spot a good fireball in the sky.
Our work event provided eye exams and new glasses for 16 homeless folks from the shelters, and a couple were referred for other health issues that were discovered. So, a good day.
Repeating again from this morning, if you have a stash of old eyeglasses you can bring them to any LensCrafters to donate to the Gift of Sight program, where they are recycled.
Baud
@Yarrow: Things I never thought I’d have to say:
I’d vote for Kanye over Trump.
Baud
@satby: I’ll say again, thank God for people like you to balance people like me out.
Yarrow
@Botsplainer: Well, when they’re all made to torture people they may have some nightmares about that.
You’re much more confident that I am that the war is going to be Over There somewhere. I think the California folks who think they’re safely ensconced in a progressive blue state might want to remember they’re an enticing big target for either China or a rogue North Korea if one of them gets a little bomb happy and wants to throw around their weight. Possibly China using NK as a proxy to stir things up.
satby
@Baud: well thank you, but I bet you’re a darling IRL.
And I’m a temperamental redhead in my RL.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: BTW that link you posted the other day to the DEA Christmas ornament…I’m having a lot of fun looking at their entire selection of DEA gifts and debating which friend needs a DEA umbrella or DEA golf balls or a DEA dog collar or a DEA leash or a DEA chip bag clip (available in navy or black!). The possibilities are endless!
Would love to see LAO tee off with DEA golf balls!
Also, for anyone on a tight budget–the DEA backpack is on sale, as is last year’s Christmas ornament.
SiubhanDuinne
So now Alan Thicke has died.
Was never a big fan of his, but still….
RIP.
And, for the gasquillionth time, FY 2016.
divF
@raven: Perry specialized in animal husbandry until they caught him at it one day.
hovercraft
@debit:
Soo cute!
He looks so happy, he looks so different from when John found him, great job.
Happy holidays to you and yours.
Anne Laurie
@debit: Send me a jpg, and I’ll front-page that pic!
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Wow. He wasn’t even that old, right?
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Wish I could take credit, because it sounds like an awesome site, but I wasn’t the one who linked to that. You must be confusing me with some other incredibly amazing and wonderful commenter.
Mary G
@debit: Merry Christmas to debit, Ellie, Walter, and the cats! Walter looks very happy to have antlers.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
69.
gogol's wife
@Anne Laurie:
I want it as my Christmas card! (except I don’t send them)
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Pretty young.
Botsplainer
@Yarrow:
The Norks toss their rocks at Japan for maximum regional destabilization. Lower yield. Major freak outs.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Five years younger than I am, and I’m much too young to die.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: my stepfather died today as well, but he was 88 and had better kids than Alan Thicke did.
hovercraft
@Baud:
Me too, but my first choice is still,
Enough of This Shit Baud 2020 !
ThresherK (GPad)
@Steve in the ATL: A backpack with the Drug Enforcement Agency’s seal on it?
Until they sell those FBI windbreakers ,Iike they wear on TV, it’ll have to do.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: Merde! You all look the same on the internet anyway so it’s hard to remember who’s who.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yarrow:
@rikyrah:
These are both very good links. Thanks for posting them.
tobie
OT…in the face of the carnage in Aleppo, Amb. Samantha Power speaks out at the UN today:
link to Guardian video
It’s the most gutsy thing I’ve heard from any progressive in the past few weeks, and it’s a reminder of how important it will be to speak up and speak out against injustice in the next four years.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Don’t you dare.
@hovercraft: Hope so. We’ll all be ready for a Golden Age by 2020.
jk
@PsiFighter37:
I’m less concerned with Rick Perry’s college degree than with the fact that he’s a stone cold stupid motherfucker as demonstrated by his presidential campaigns. As the saying goes, “He wouldn’t know how to pour piss from a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel”.
Trump is giving his dumbass supporters the kakistocracy they deserve. I just wish that the rest of us didn’t have to suffer through this nightmare.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Steve, I’m so sorry. Hugs to you. I hope your stepfather passed peacefully.
Steve in the ATL
@ThresherK (GPad): Hey, $6 will get you a DEA raid cap! Wear that when you pick up your teenager from school or a party.
Anne Laurie
@PsiFighter37:
Don’t diss animal science, it’s the basic building block for learning to be a smart farmer (or any of a variety of fields that deal with raising animals). Even 40 years ago, when I was in a pre-veterinary program at a land grant university, it involved a certain amount of math and a lot of technology — it’s not supposed to be a program where the jocks and legacy kids can be safely stashed.
SiubhanDuinne
@jk:
LOL! I don’t know if that’s original with you, but I’m definitely stealing it!!
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: He did, thanks, and had a long, full life, and wanted no part of a world where an orange shitgibbon would become POTUS.
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
This year cannot end soon enough, ditto on the FY 2016.
RIP
coin operated
@Yarrow: Does anyone know if Kanye West is getting some heat for meeting with Trump?
I don’t know about his fans, but you can damn well be sure there will be a condescending tweet (or three) from Trump if Kanye does say something bad about him. I think that *all* these meetings are setups (see Stone’s remarks re: Romney).
Was there *anyone* else in the room? No? Then Donnie can make up whatever he wants and his words will be the gospel.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: Sounds like a good man.
tobie
@Steve in the ATL: I’m very sorry for your loss. Losing a parent or step-parent is always hard, even when they’ve had a good, long life behind them.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
No immediate plans. In fact, my intention is to stick around for another couple of decades and flex my Mob Enforcer muscles at every opportunity.
ThresherK (GPad)
@Steve in the ATL: Condolencences from here. Hope whatever needs doing gets done emotion-wise.
hovercraft
@Steve in the ATL:
Condolences on your Stepfather.
Sounds like he led a good life and raised some good kids. Hugs to you and your family.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Excellent.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
In that case, I’m glad he moved on before the carnage gets underway. My 86-year-old cousin who died just two days before the election would also have been horrified, and for her sake I’m glad she didn’t have to see any of the looming shitshow.
Yarrow
@Steve in the ATL: Condolences. It’s hard to lose a parent or step-parent.
Pogonip
@Steve in the ATL: Condolences.
laura
@debit: soon many toofs! Who’s a good boy?
Walters a good boy!
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog….
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Well, except Walter.
ThresherK (GPad)
Is there another TV Sitcom Dad , in a show that fan several years, who was a Canadian?
Or was Thicke basically it, compared to all the people from William Bendix to Ray Romano?
Yarrow
@Botsplainer:
Well, we’ll see. This could be wishful thinking:
Edit: Apparently Chuck Todd was interviewing him today and said something like, if we aren’t going to let the electoral college do what it’s there to do then we should just abolish it
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Yes, Walter knows.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yarrow:
Chuck Todd, unsurprisingly, seems to have very little idea of what’s involved in amending the Constitution.
Steve in the ATL
Thanks all, though I didn’t mean to hijack the thread, and apologies to any posters who are members of the Thicke family and aren’t getting enough attention. He did have a good life (was FAIA for you architects out there) and died peacefully at home. Couldn’t ask for more.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Jill Stein Recount Fund.
Steve in the ATL
@Yarrow:
What a day–on top of everything, I sort of agree with Chuck Todd on something!
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: We like you, just the way you are.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: Separated from you by a vast cyberspace?
Jeffro
@rikyrah: love Kendzior’s stuff
coin operated
@Steve in the ATL:
No…that was Lawrence Lessig. Chuck Todd is still worthless.
mike in dc
@Botsplainer:
Nuke usage would destabilize a hell of a lot more than the region. Nuking Tokyo(successfully) would crater global markets(tasteless pun intended).
Baud
@Steve in the ATL:
Is that the one where they count her marbles?
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: Zing!
This is why I supported your campaign.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: When you are in my neck of the woods you should stop by. We can has snow and Frost!
Jeffro
@Yarrow: and its only Tuesday! We only need 37
Heck as much as I want the EC to miraculously come to its senses and elect Hillary, if the whole thing gets thrown to the house there are benefits there… just picture what happens that the GOP if some of them think that the most helpful thing to do is to put Pence in there. Trump will have a stroke
Baud
@Jeffro: Agree.
@schrodinger’s cat: Aren’t you getting a storm soon?
schrodinger's cat
@Steve in the ATL: I know! Jackal is always ready with a quip, even when he is kind of blue.
Vote Baud, for all your snark needs in one place.
jk
@SiubhanDuinne:
It’s not original with me, I read it in a book. I think it may have been Stephen Ambrose’s Rise to Globalism.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: It was piddling, less than 2 inches.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: Ohhh, I hope Jackel is my Secret Service code name.
i
@SiubhanDuinne: @jk: It is drill sergeant speak.
Anne Laurie
@Steve in the ATL: My condolences.
As Joe Biden would say: May the day soon come when the thought of him brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.
japa21
@Jeffro: As I understand it, the House can only choose between the top three people who received electoral votes. Not sure that if electors just chose not to vote so that neither got to 270, how the House would go. I can’t see enough Republicans voting for Clinton.
And then of course, I could be all wrong about the first part and clueless about the second. My being so has happened before in my 69 years, although I can’t remember the last time.
coin operated
@Botsplainer:
They don’t have to use nukes. The Norks have thousands of conventional artillery tubes pointed at Seoul, and have promised to use them as a first strike weapon. Casualty estimates are in the multiple 100K range in the first 60 minutes.
@Yarrow:
I’m not worried about strikes here on our soil when plenty of damage can be done to our allies abroad. We discovered we had some actual limits in force projection during our little foray into Iraq V.2.0. I’m sure aggressor nations took note.
i
@Steve in the ATL: Condolences.
Mnemosyne
@tobie:
I have to (kind of) snark for a moment: apparently you didn’t get the memo, but Power is actually despised by most “progressives” as the most warmongering warmongerer who ever warmongered because she feels that preventing genocide is a valid reason for the US to use its military power. So, no, most “progressives” are going to hate that speech and whine about how Power is the worst person in the world for making it.
Democrats, on the other hand, will be spellbound.
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
The man is a sociopath, these are peoples lives he’s playing with.
WASF
jk
@Yarrow: @Jeffro:
If the Electoral College were to summon up the courage to cast enough votes for Hillary to win this race, it would be the 21st century equivalent of the ending from Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life.
Omnes Omnibus
@i: @i: Not sure how I became a lower case letter.
Mai.naem.mobile
Jeezus, Alan Thicke died. They’re taking all the sitcom old peoples away,well,except for Bill Cosby.
Mnemosyne
@Steve in the ATL:
I’m so sorry. I’m super freaked out right now because my (step)mom is probably going to need heart surgery early next year, and I don’t know what the hell is going to happen. She’s been my mom for almost 40 years since my mother died when I was 7, so it’s going to be a pretty big deal if something goes wrong.
Baud
@jk: Ain’t that the truth? I’d have kids just so I could have grandkids I could tell the story to.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I just realized that your nym has the same initials as the Orange One.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s very ee cummings.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Yeah, I just don’t know what the best thing is at this point. Trump getting in is a disaster. But he might do some clearly illegal things right away and it’s so obvious because he’s so inept that a groundswell develops to impeach him. That would mean Pence would get in but the whole thing would take awhile and be a complete mess and maybe he’d be hobbled in the damage he could do.
Then again maybe Trump is too dangerous and Pence would be a better choice. But he’s really no better and is possibly worse than Trump. Plus he’s got the veneer of respectability so he looks like a president and wouldn’t scare people in the same way. Functionally would anything change? Maybe the Russia stuff. Who knows.
Toss to the House and Trump voters are angry. Then if they vote for Trump and scenario A above happens they own it. “They should have known” becomes the battle cry and maybe more Republicans lose seats.
Also possible, thought unlikely, the electors vote for Hillary. She goes into office very damaged and best case scenario is she holds the line on Obamacare and maybe gets to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. I don’t see much else getting done but those would be good. I’d expect her to be a one term president, if that. However, I also see that midterm voters are so angry, and Dems feel they averted the worst, and combined with voter suppression Dem candidates get destroyed in 2018 and we’re even worse off.
I just don’t know what the best option is. Oh, I forgot one – hold a new election.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: well, i am me again.
Baud
@Yarrow: Not even a close call. Take Hillary and your chances.
Manyakitty
@debit: Thank you so much! Just the tonic for a tough day.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I continue to bring you hope…
(no link ’cause Kraushaar’s a dick. Just enjoy the stat.)
jk
@i:
Sadly, this saying could apply to many Republican politicians besides Rick Perry.
tobie
@Mnemosyne: Yes, I do recall she’s been criticized for being an interventionist when, after everything that’s happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, we’re skeptical about what you can accomplish with military force. But I did find the statement powerful given the nature of the moment. She was speaking in the UN on behalf of the US criticizing a country (Russia) to whom we will soon be giving carte blanche. Heck, Trump wants to emulate them. Suspect someone of terrorism…torture their families. Break the Geneva Conventions, it’s a-okay. That’s what made her question, “Is there anything that can shame you,” so powerful. It’s a question to be asked of the American people after this election. End of Rant.
schrodinger's cat
I saw Hasee to Phasee this Sunday. Loved it! Nerdy science girl gets the handsome guy. The lead pair and most of the ensemble cast was very relatable. Hindi movies have come a long way in ten years when I saw none.
I can’t stand the comic book superhero stuff that Hollywood seems to churn out these days.
My favorite song from the movie.
SiubhanDuinne
@i:
I never had a drill sergeant, but it’s a fine well-crafted phrase, and I plan to use it often.
Manyakitty
@Steve in the ATL: I’m so sorry for your loss. May his memory be a blessing. Peace and love.
jk
@Yarrow:
I’ll take my chances with all of the negative consequences you wrote after that sentence because Donald Trump is too fucking dumb and too fucking dishonest to lead this country.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Steve in the ATL: Sadly they seem to be out of Deputy Ducks. Which is what I call the rubber ducks with a police hat and a DEA badge on the chest. I still have 2; I gave probably a dozen as gifts. I have also given a (previous year’s, on sale) DEA ornament. I’m weird like that. I’m inordinately sad not to see Deputy Ducks at the site. I happily paid full price for those.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I am the walrus.*
*Actually, that was my dad’s nickname on his college swim team.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Why a duck? What the fuck?
barbequebob
@PsiFighter37:
While Perry is no doubt an idiot, Animal Science is a legitimate major, focused on the biology and husbandry of animals, mostly domesticated ones, e.g. farm animals. You can major in Animal Science at every land grant college in the US, which tend to be the large state universities established in the 19th century, generally as Ag Schools in the beginning
I went to one. It is now called The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which began in 1862 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College.
PS. Agree with you on all other points
jk
@Baud:
I recently saw It’s a Wonderful Life on NBC for the umpteenth time and even with commercial interruptions, I enjoyed it as much as when I saw it for the very first time decades ago.
Omnes Omnibus
@barbequebob: PF37 went to Wharton. Just like Trump. (Sorry PF37)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Rhymes to the contrary notwithstanding, everybody should have a DEA branded rubber duckie.
jk
@Mai.naem.mobile:
“Alan Thicke died.”
Speaking of dying, E. R. Braithwaite, author of To Sir, With Love, died at age 104.
Here’s to you E.R.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVQ4vAmM7Y
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus:
OO’s dad is Craig Stadler. Dossier updated.
And we can all agree that that towel penalty in ’87 was bullshit. PGA is worse than the NFL.
BillinGlendaleCA
@jk: Frank Capra went to CalTech(Throop at the time).
BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: Goo, Goo, Gah, Joop.
Yarrow
It’s Russian hackers all the way down:
Mike in NC
Some other people were “unsettled” when a guy much like Trump came to power in their country. What was their problem?
jenn
@Yarrow: That’s what I think is needed: a new election. Right now there’s a constitutional crisis everywhere we look – the election of Trump was an effect of the interference by a foreign government (and yes, other causal factors, but this was a big one), but were the electors to select Hillary somehow, that’s going the other way, because she won fewer states. Constitutional crisis, whichever side we look at – the only way forward is to hold another election. Without another election neither can/could govern with legitimacy.
Not (at all) saying that a new election is likely to happen, but I do think it’s the only way to make sure that the President has actual legitimacy to govern.
jk
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Thanks, I didn’t know that, but we’re in desperate need of some Capra magic right now.
Mike J
If you ever wanted to get rid of the electoral college, have them hand an election to a Democrat.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Steve in the ATL: I should note that I totally want a rosewood badge medallion desk wedge with “Quality Control Director” as my job title. Sadly, my LEO ex, while we remain quite friendly, would be quite amused but is unlikely to get it for me. ::pouts::
More importantly, my condolences.
Jaker
Trumps Cabinet = Old Army Men, Wall St. iffy blokes, an oil man, fast food man, a sort of doctor, God forbid, Sarah Palin & Rick Perry, aargh, a few Millionaire women, a few Right Wingers (OK, well very, very, Right, aargh) and the rest…old Washington Hacks.
Now, Donald the Trump…says that is cleaning the swamp, yea? I say it’s filling it up again, with “Crocodiles”!
Anne Laurie
@Mike J:
There would be a certain political symmetry to having the first woman president win the popular vote, lose the assumed electoral vote, get appointed president when those electors decide ‘their’ candidate is Not Possible… after which the angry conservative
luzersvoters amend the Constitution to make it impossible for any future candidate to “win” by amassing key electors in a few states.Not that I think it’ll happen, but it’d certainly be fun for the historians!
opiejeanne
@debit: Julian seems small compared to Walter. Is he a Maine Coon?
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
And yet I still have fucking “leftist” morons telling me that the release of all of this information was a good thing by definition (because Information Wants To Be Free) and it was good and right that The People knew about (for example) Taddeo’s evil machinations to get elected to office.
Like all true libertarians, the fact that there was an imbalance of information never occurs to them for a fucking millisecond.
Mnemosyne
@opiejeanne:
I can’t speak for debit, but our cat Annie looks almost exactly like Julian, and she’s a petite little kitty who barely weighs 8 pounds. We call her our Miniature Maine Coon.
Another Scott
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Yup. They have a 1:1 match.
Thanks for the pointer. I just donated. It’s an amazing resource, and more essential than ever in this time of “fake news” and worse.
Cheers,
Scott.
chopper
@raven:
fucking dumbass. kasich doesn’t realize the grift is all about the losing. a shitty piece of shit bill with no chance of making it past even a district court is what you want. you don’t want to actually overturn abortion rights, dumbass. that’s the goose that lays golden eggs.
Larkspur
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Hey, yeah, it was a about a year ago when we had a heavy rain and a king tide and I and the friend who generously agreed to drive me to UCSF for a colonoscopy were three hours late because of the flooding. (I still had the procedure because everyone else was late too.) Good times.
chopper
@chopper:
by “dumbass” I mean kasich, not you. and fuck lbj.
Jaker
@Yarrow: It had to be Russian interference, what am I saying? It was Russian interference…for the simple reason the email flood stopped …just like “Magic” right on the day of the election. The Russians (Putin/Lavrov & Cronies work was done in association with Brietbart smart asses, Trump , Barron, & Wikileaks. The conspiracy they thought they’d get away with. Like Watergate…I mean “Trump-gate”.
Trump is trying to do a Putin on America…like be a bully, take the press for granted, tweet crazily his twitters…and avoid press conferences. He’s trying hard to get a free pass to that magic January day…when he becomes your “Tzar” and rule the world in his own crazy way like his fellow friend, Tzar Putin. If Trump goes all the way? Putin will get an a-la-carte menu to do as he pleases throughout the Balkan States first & then who knows? He’s already today told Germany’s Chancellor Merkel that he’s threatening the supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine over the Winter.
You have been warned.
PS. I have studied Russia since Putin got in by tricking & framing Yeltsin…the rest is a dirty political history story and it could be outreaching to your neck of the woods (USA) in the future. Electoral College…better make the right choice in the days to come.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: I should have said, “I am the carpenter.”
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I can’t help that.
chopper
@Yarrow:
so trump meets with a crazier’n squirrel shit black rap artist who spent the better part of the last two weeks in the nuthouse. and scaredy cat white people who gave trump the oval office don’t give a shit. the double standard with white people is amazing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Huh?
Mnemosyne
@Another Scott:
One of the creepiest short stories I ever read was by (I think) Gahan Wilson. A group of picnickers meets a pair of mysterious men on a beach and realize too late why they keep being referred to as oysters …
The Lodger
@chopper: So Trump meets with a millionaire who just spent two weeks in LA Neuro Psych. Aren’t there a couple of cabinet positions that haven’t been filled yet?
Another Scott
@Mnemosyne: :-)
Nuts is one of the books I most enjoyed when I was a 2-3 decades younger.
“… We’ll put it in the soup!…”
Cheers,
Scott.
Gvg
@chopper: the meeting with Kayne is being considered Trump trying to distract us again with a show. I think this is correct. Kanye is not actually important compared to Russian hacking. We are learning.